Photo Credit:
Ulf Haase
A WEEK OF SKATING IN MALLORCA, SPAIN (Day 3)
by
Daniel Edman of Stockholm, Sweden
Tuesday I wake up convinced I am not well. I have to have
a fever since I´m freezing and shivering there in my bed.
But when slightly opening my eyes I realize both blankets
are laying on the floor, and when they are piled back on top of me
I am feeling well again.
At 8:40 in the morning, a bunch of Swedish skaters leave the hotel after
Johan has outlined the activities and routes of the day. Johan
invents the expression "minus 10% pace" which is supposed
to mean that the pace is reduced with 10% in favor of less
breaks. Preferably no breaks or stops at all!
From the group there is the anonymous question "whose pace
is to be reduced?", but that question is left unanswered.
This morning we are not skating through wet paint, which
proves that mankind improves, and subsequently that Darwin was
right! The pace is not too high and we skate the same route
as yesterday, toward Sa Pobla. We prefer to stay one meter
or so away from the edge of the road. There is no shoulder and
by skating in the road the group behaves like some kind of
unspecified vehicle and no car drivers try any passing
unless the opposite roadside is free.
Without stopping we skate straight through Sa Pobla and
south toward Muro. In Muro we turn right on a narrow road
with basically no traffic. This road leads us between stone walls
and under big shading trees. Along the road, behind the
stonewalls, there are fields with trees, pigs, cows and
what not. This landscape is beautiful and I´m glad we are
not racing, this pace allows me to enjoy the views.
After a while we reach the crossing where we rested the
day before, after having conquered that winding uphill road.
Today we turn left, the nearest way to Santa Margalida
and here we also find a nice long downhill almost all the
way to Santa Margalida. The asphalt is very good which
makes the skating fun and easy.
At Santa Margalida we turn left at the roundabout where
the group reunited yesterday, and after another 300 meters
we make another left turn into a narrow road leading to
Son Morro. This road is very good for skating with almost
no traffic.
At the T-crossing at Son Morro we turn left toward Muro,
which is reached through what can best be described as a
"hole in the wall". It is a fairly steep uphill and I must
admit we are not very quick through this opening.
There are interesting reactions from the citizens of these
tiny villages when we are passing by. Old toothless
Spanish ladies are giving us their most toothless smiles,
younger and not yet toothless Spanish girls are waving and
cheering and in some cases also taking photos. We gladly
volunteer for photos and arrange some action skating scenes.
From Muro we continue on a big and busy road west but
already after some 4 kilometers we are back to the now
familiar intersection south of Sa Pobla. Turning right
in the direction Sa Pobla, Marten wants speed. Marten and myself
leave the rest and go full speed to Sa Pobla, with the
GPS indicating 35 km/h we are overtaking two tractors
with trailers loaded with potatoes.
I like overtaking tractors loaded with potatoes!
Especially at 35 km/h.
From Sa Pobla there is 5 of us that want speed when
Johan takes the lead. I guess it was
myself, Ulf, Jonas, Bertil, and
Marten that decided it was time
for a race, so we set full speed direction Alcudia.
Halfway there I hear the well-known sound of a falling
skater in the queue behind me, and when turning my head
I see
Jonas doing the butt-slide on the asphalt. I
believe it was due to fatigue that he ran his wheels
into Bertils frame, which was what was needed to cause
the fall. Jonas survives with minor elbow scratches and
we quickly resume full speed ahead.
We are back at the hotel around noon and my roommate
Totte makes a delicious pasta which we eat in great
hurry. After two hours at the pool side in the sun the
hunger is present again and I have to eat cold pasta
remains directly from the pot. A little later I have
to go out for a third meal since I´m starving, and
I´m beginning to realize the nutrition effects of
intense every-day skating.
The evening tour is cancelled in favor of a planned
90 kilometer tour the following day. Three guys from
the very northern part of Sweden are scheduled to
arrive the day after and we think 90 kilometers will
be a nice welcoming present for them.
Unfortunately they prefer not to skate with us the
next day, which is really disappointing
<--
Part 3
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Part 5 of this Article
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Related Links
Daniel's Wild Week in Mallorca - Part 1
Daniel Edman - Main Menu
Skating in Spain
Skating in Sweden
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